Outdoor and Environment Articles

Sunday, March 6, 2016

[March 2016 submission] Cycling Treasure in Lincoln Parish

There are incredible sensory experiences and rewards from outdoor life, and some of these even very seasoned hunters and fishermen miss. Although so many of us in the Deep South have a natural affinity for hunting and fishing, other outdoor activities rival these two now in popularity among men and women. And I’m not including sports or games such as recreational football, baseball/softball, tennis, and golf which have millions of participants.

The Topline Report for 2015 of American Outdoor Recreation Participation is sponsored by the Outdoor Foundation and involves surveys of almost 11,000 individuals. Based on its 2014 polling, the report indicates that America’s favorite adult outdoor activities are 1) running, jogging and trail running, 2) bicycling (road, mountain and BMX) and 3) bird watching. According to this measure of the frequency of cited participation by surveyed adults, hunting is the fifth popular activity with many times fewer overall outings per year than the first-rated and second-rated activities. As far as the percentage of all survey participants who claimed that they participated that year in outdoor activities, running, jogging and trail running scored highest with 15.8 percent of respondents. Trailing this were fishing (15%), bicycling (12.8%), and hiking (12.4%). Among non-adult survey participants, those under the age of 24 in this 2015 survey, fishing and hunting were much less highly ranked, relative to other outdoor activities, than adult respondents had ranked hunting and fishing.

These survey results likely don't reflect outdoor priorities and cultural traditions in the Deep South where hunting and fishing have long been so popular, but perhaps such surveys should lead to more media commentary about popular outdoor activities other than hunting and fishing. I've described several outstanding hiking locations in this state in previous months, but this month I'm turning to a discussion of bicycling as an outdoor activity.

I have to confess that I'm much more of a runner and hiker than a bicyclist, but I do occasionally enjoy getting out my old hybrid bike (a cross between a road and trail cycle) and trying an interesting location. I'd do a whole lot more bicycling if I didn't have a little fear of riding on public roads and encountering auto drivers who are ill prepared for sharing the road. That isn't a problem on most outdoor trails. There my only concern is hitting a unforeseen rock or root and having a different sort of crash landing. Many folks are more adventurous and capable than I am on a bicycle and venture more often to various biking destinations.

Many parks and recreational areas in Louisiana have good paved or unpaved trails to challenge cycling skill and energy levels. Yet there is one place in particular that many recommend for its diverse assortment of easy, moderate and very demanding bike trails. It's even been promoted as one of the top 20 mountain or trail bicycling challenges in the country and the best found in the Deep South. The Lincoln Parish Park, just outside Ruston on the road to Farmerville, is highly recommended for its tranquil beauty, as well as a bicycling test and adventure. I was glad to spend a day there recently. I'm hardly capable of making it through all of the ten miles of the advanced or expert trail, but riding parts of this, the almost four-mile beginners trail, and some of the paved pathways was a good challenge and workout for me. I really needed a mountain bike, though, for some of the advanced trail. My hybrid bike and tires were a bit flimsy to navigate over larger roots, branches, and other trail bumps.

Much of the credit for creating this biking bonanza in Lincoln Parish goes to Frederick Hoogland and James Ramsaur who envisioned and developed the park and biking trails in the nineties. On a typical day at the park, you’ll encounter a diverse assortment of outdoor enthusiasts, including retirees, Tech students, children, and folks just taking a break to eat lunch in a beautiful setting. Swimming, boating and fishing opportunities exist on the park's 30-acre lake, which has a nice sandy beach area for sunbathing. Many picnicking and cookout areas can be found nearby under the abundant pine trees. RV and camping sites are available near the lake, as well as a well-equipped playground facility for children.

For those specifically interested in trail or mountain biking, the Louisiana Off-Road Cycling Organization (LOCO) offers a web site (www.locomtb.com) and information about this and other biking trails and cycling events over the year in the state. You can also visit Turbo Goat, the bike sales and repair shop in downtown Ruston, to get local cycling news and to be better prepared for a ride on the advanced and other trails at this park.

You don't actually have to visit the Lincoln Parish Park to get a vivid impression of the types of challenge found on its bicycle trails. Several YouTube videos currently available on the internet show experienced bike riders negotiating parts of the advanced trail, and these can put you behind the handlebars for their rides. These videos can never substitute, though, for exploring the many park trails on your own leisure and at your own level of cycling skill.

[February 2016 Submission] Becoming a Hobbyist Beekeeper

The worldwide decline in numbers and health of pollinating bees has certainly received a lot of public coverage in recent years, along with multiple reasons that have been suggested for causing this decline. There has also been unprecedented interest or curiosity among the general public about honey bees and beekeeping.

Some of this interest has come from individuals, couples and families who view beekeeping as a possible pastime and a means to do a little bit to help preserve the key crop pollination and environmental niche that bees fill. Many baby boomers who are in or near retirement years can remember the rural roots of their grandparents or great-grandparents who likely kept a bee hive or two on their ranches or farms. They have homes now in rural or suburban areas and also more spare time for hobbies than during their work careers.

Among these baby boomers, and also many people much younger, are those who yearn for a simpler and closer-to-nature existence. Some are very concerned about the state of our natural environment and issues such as healthier food consumption. Some are gardeners themselves or have orchards on their property for which pollinating insects can benefit the quality and quantity of crop yield.

There are currently 13 local or area beekeeping clubs active within the state of Louisiana and associated with the Louisiana Beekeepers Association. Anyone interested in learning more about honey bees and beekeeping can obviously go to a bookstore or library to find and read basic books on these subjects. As valuable as this information can be, it really can't compare with the more personal information and advice that veteran, local beekeepers can offer. Few "how to" books consider the specific area conditions and challenges that beekeeping in parts of the Deep South present. An example is one particular pest, the small hive beetle, that is more likely to result in major hive problems in this region of the country than these beetles cause elsewhere.

Critical to beekeeping is hive location and recognizing the more important trees and plants upon which bees can potentially forage for pollen and nectar. There's quite a difference in some of these foraging sources even within a state such as Louisiana. Chinese tallow can be a very important foraging source for honey production in parts of south Louisiana while much less so in north Louisiana. Row crops such as cotton and soybeans can really help nearby hives produce surplus honey, but beekeepers must be aware of potential crop dusting and pesticide spraying that can be fatal to hives. Mosquito abatement efforts occur in many Louisiana parishes, and contact with those local officials can help prevent mosquito spraying near bee hives.

Much of Louisiana has abundant wild growth of goldenrod in the fall that can be a great foraging source that allows hives to produce and store honey to keep the hives going through the winter months. Many beekeepers like to harvest their honey though before the start of this goldenrod bloom, usually in September, because the taste of goldenrod honey is often considered funky, earthy, and less than desirable.

Veteran beekeepers can help beginners get started and have a much higher chance of hive survival and productivity. They can give advice on how to purchase bees and the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing options, such as "packages," "nucs," or whole hives. Often beginners get interested in beekeeping and want to start in the spring, but find that some purchasing options require financial commitments in advance and suppliers have limited availability later in the spring.

Some beekeepers started with little cost by catching swarming bees. How to catch swarms or to remove an existing hive of bees from a tree (a "trap out") can be easy or difficult depending on the actual situation and your knowledge of methods. Basic clothing, equipment, and supplies for beekeeping are just some of questions that beginners can have. There's almost always some time at monthly beekeepers’ meetings for beginners to ask veterans specific questions that they may currently have.

Beekeeping clubs in the state vary considerably in terms of their history, number of members or individuals attending monthly meetings, and degree of formal programs and presentations at their meetings. The Hill Country Beekeepers, based now in West Monroe, started over 25 years ago with beekeepers meeting in Farmerville. There are clubs in the Shreveport/Bossier City, Pineville/Alexandria, and Vidalia/Ferriday areas, as well as others in south Louisiana. Clubs often start with a limited number of experienced beekeepers who meet and share knowledge and viewpoints, but grow over time as newcomers visit, benefit from the advice of veteran beekeepers, and join the club. Some clubs have fundraising efforts, post informative newsletters, and offer various membership benefits, such as "field days" when members can share knowledge and skills in working on actual hives.

The Louisiana Beekeepers Association holds an annual convention on a Friday and Saturday in early December each year with many beekeeping topics and presentations, as well as invite national and area vendors who sell beekeeping equipment and supplies. The LBA also sponsors an October field day on a Saturday each year at the Baton Rouge Honey Bee Research Lab at which demonstrations and advice are given for more and less experienced beekeepers. As a new LBA board member this year, I would encourage anyone interested in possibly becoming a hobbyist beekeeper to consider joining the LBA and to attend monthly meetings of a nearby local/area beekeeping club. I'm biased perhaps, but I've never met a beekeeper who didn't seem willing to help a beginner get started by answering his/her questions. Some hobbyist beekeepers get interested enough that they eventually have a 50, 100, or more hives and become "sideline" beekeepers who sell honey and other hive products. We also have some "commercial" beekeepers in the LBA who have many more hives in this state and who haul many trailers of bees to California and other states for crop pollination purposes and fees. Still, the majority of state beekeepers are hobbyists with a few hives on their own property.

The official web site for the Louisiana Beekeepers Association offers contact information for a club fairly near to you, as well as information on the LBA's activities and mission. A few of these local clubs in the state have their own web sites or Facebook pages. One Facebook site, Beekeeping in Louisiana, offers a means to reach and query many state beekeepers. If you have specific questions about becoming a hobbyist beekeeper, I'll try to respond to these (steve-payne1@live.com) or at least point you in the right direction.

[January 2016 Submission] Lions and Turtles and Bears, Oh My!

Those who spend significant time in Louisiana forests and on our many state waterways run across an amazing diversity of wildlife. Whether hunting or fishing for specific prey or just hiking or kayaking for exercise, we can be surprised by unusual wildlife encounters.

My own stroll down a gravel road in rural Winn Parish about three years ago led to my seeing what appeared to be a panther or cougar slowly crossing the road in front of me and less than 25 yards away. The length between its legs, its tan coloring, and its tail made me certain that this was no bobcat. On two other occasions in the neighboring woods around then, I heard warning snarls or roars that sounded like those of mountain lions or cougars in zoos and on nature TV programs. Alone and unarmed, I didn’t begin to attempt to invade that animal’s space. My guess is that I had seen and heard a Florida panther, based upon photos of these cats on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service web pages. How the panther migrated or was dropped into the Louisiana piney woods, I don’t know. Given the increasing presence of feral hogs in the area, though, any panther-like predator would have had plenty prey as food sources.

One particular reptile and state resident has been in the news lately. Back in July, the AP reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service believed that federal protection might be needed for the alligator snapping turtle. In her recent AP article, Janet McConnaughey explained that turtles often stay in slow, deep water of states like Louisiana to try to attract and eat fish using their tongues as a worm-like lure. These alligator snapping turtles can live well over 50 years and weigh more than 150 pounds. Louisiana banned commercial taking of these types of snapping turtles back in 2004, and Florida banned any harvest in 2009. Environmental groups, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, have petitioned that the alligator snapping turtle be added as an endangered species. The USFWS is currently conducting a 12-month study to help decide whether to classify these turtles as an endangered or threated. Efforts to protect their habitat, and particularly, reduce the threat of water pollution, might be expected. Many who fish regularly have had hooks snagged or bitten by these and other types of turtles. Unless turtle soup was an intended or opportunistic result, extricating hooks from turtle jaws was just a nuisance.

There was wildlife news earlier this year about Louisiana black bears and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposal to remove these bears from the list of threatened and endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Listed under this act in 1992 and initially gaining federal protection, the remaining Louisiana black bears were largely confined to forests in the Tensas and Atchafalaya River basins. Since that time, there have been increased state efforts at public education and hunter awareness. Enforcement penalties are prison sentences of a year and a large fine for killing bears. The state also started offering a special license plate to residents with the funds raised dedicated to research and education.

Federal and state level actions have resulted in our black bears now reaching levels of breeding stability or growth so that endangered status will likely end soon. Confirmed sightings of black bears have occurred throughout the state, with many reports in the northeast and north-central parishes of the state. Walter Cotton, a supervisory wildlife damage management biologist from the Wildlife Services, reported at a Hill Country Beekeepers meeting in West Monroe over a year ago that young male bears, expelled by their mothers, can roam great distances trying to find their own place. This movement, particularly, results in human-bear interactions that can be very negative ones. Several area beekeepers can ready attest that a black bear has utterly destroyed their hives in a particular bee yard.

Among ways to avoid the presence of troublesome bears is better food disposal and trash management practices. Cotton explained that the Wildlife Services uses “adverse conditioning practices” on troublesome and captured bears that tend to make them much less likely to want to be around humans. Simply moving these roaming bears to another location often just creates a problem for someone else. For beekeepers, a simple, electrical fence seems the best approach. Those experiencing damage or problems with black bears can report this to the state Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, and for emergencies contact local sheriff, police, or LDWF.

It’s an important and sometimes controversial task to determine appropriate federal and state policies for protecting our wildlife resources. Successes have occurred with alligators in recent decades, and with black bears more recently in this state. That certainly doesn’t mean that we should be eager for a very “close encounter” with a lion, an alligator snapping turtle, or a black bear.